metropolitan governance and metropolitan cities in italy outdated solutions for processes of urban regionalisation

Abstract A form of metropolitan government in Italy was originally introduced in 1990. After 25 years, the approval of Law 56/2014 has opened a new season of experimentation, full of expectations but at the same time not exempt from critique. The paper presents and discusses the elements of innovation and path-dependency that have shaped the current normative framework, explaining in particular the climate under which the new law was adopted. The author critically focuses on three main problematic aspects of the law that institutes the new città metropolitana, i.e. the definition of boundaries, the nature of the new institution, and its competences and tools for action, considering their ability to deal with the challenges related to the processes of regional urbanisation affecting contemporary Italy

A challenging task—how to successfully separate theca and granulosa cells: a mandatory step for investigating ovary steroidogenesis

The reciprocal interaction in between theca (TCs) and granulosa (GCs) cells plays a pivotal role in al-lowing ovary to display a wide range of physiological functions, including steroidogenesis and reproduction capabilities. For instance, changes in the respective proportion among GCs and TCS have been correlated to progression or recovery from Polycystic Ovary Syn-drome (Bevilacqua, et al. 2019). To investigate how these cells cooperate, it is important to understand how they work in isolation. Therefore, segregation of the two cell clusters constitutes a pre-requisite for planning functional studies on the ovary

Exploring European urban policy: Towards an EU-national urban agenda?

In recent years, the European Union has reactivated the “urban agenda process”. The mainstreaming of the “urban dimension” into the EU policies (2009), the explicit integration of the “urban policy” in the new Cohesion policy (2012) and the public consultation on the EU urban agenda (2014) are some examples which offer a new interesting framework for European urban research. Thus, this article addresses, on the one hand, the evolution of the “European urban agenda process”, based on the consolidation of the “integrated and sustainable urban development” (ISUD) approach. On the other, it analyzes the issue of the “urban Europeanization” in the frame of the new Cohesion policy 2014-2020. The cases of Italy and Spain will be addressed in order to explore this trend. <strong>En los últimos años, la Unión europea ha reactivado el proceso de la “agenda urbana”. El “mainstreaming” de la dimensión urbana en las políticas comunitarias (2009), la integración explícita de la “Política urbana” en la nueva Política de cohesión (2012) y la celebración de una consulta pública sobre la agenda urbana europea (2014) son algunos ejemplos que ofrecen un nuevo e interesante marco para los estudios urbanos europeos. Por tanto, este artículo aborda, por un lado, la evolución del proceso de la agenda urbana europea, que se basa en la consolidación del enfoque de “desarrollo urbano sostenible integrado” (DUSI). Por otro lado, analiza la cuestión de la europeización urbana en el marco de la nueva Política de cohesión 2014-2020. Los casos de Italia y España serán abordados con el objetivo de explorar esta tendencia.</strong

Explorando la Política urbana europea: ¿Hacia una agenda urbana nacional-europea?

In recent years, the European Union has reactivated the “urban agenda process”. The mainstreaming of the “urban dimension” into the EU policies (2009), the explicit integration of the “urban policy” in the new Cohesion policy (2012) and the public consultation on the EU urban agenda (2014) are some examples which offer a new interesting framework for European urban research. Thus, this article addresses, on the one hand, the evolution of the “European urban agenda process”, based on the consolidation of the “integrated and sustainable urban development” (ISUD) approach. On the other, it analyzes the issue of the “urban Europeanization” in the frame of the new Cohesion policy 2014-2020. The cases of Italy and Spain will be addressed in order to explore this trend.En los últimos años, la Unión europea ha reactivado el proceso de la “agenda urbana”. El “mainstreaming” de la dimensión urbana en las políticas comunitarias (2009), la integración explícita de la “Política urbana” en la nueva Política de cohesión (2012) y la celebración de una consulta pública sobre la agenda urbana europea (2014) son algunos ejemplos que ofrecen un nuevo e interesante marco para los estudios urbanos europeos. Por tanto, este artículo aborda, por un lado, la evolución del proceso de la agenda urbana europea, que se basa en la consolidación del enfoque de “desarrollo urbano sostenible integrado” (DUSI). Por otro lado, analiza la cuestión de la europeización urbana en el marco de la nueva Política de cohesión 2014-2020. Los casos de Italia y España serán abordados con el objetivo de explorar esta tendencia

Complexity in biological organization: deconstruction (and subsequent restating) of key concepts

The "magic" word complexity evokes a multitude of meanings that obscure its real sense. Here we try and generate a bottom-up reconstruction of the deep sense of complexity by looking at the convergence of different features shared by complex systems. We specifically focus on complexity in biology but stressing the similarities with analogous features encountered in inanimate and artefactual systems in order to track an integrative path toward a new "mainstream" of science overcoming the actual fragmentation of scientific culture

National urban policies in Europe: Does the EU make the difference?

This chapter aims to provide a critical exploration of whether or not there is a common understanding of urban policy within the EU Member States, and if so, what role the European Union (EU) has played in its development over the past 30 years. To address this question, the chapter examines the role of Europeanization in the field of national urban policies, some 20 years after the original formulation of the Europeanization concept. We aim to understand how and to what extent the 30 years of discussion and operationalization of urban policies at the EU level have impacted on the development of national urban policies in different Member States. We examine the EU Urban Agenda as a new and flexible model to address urban challenges within a framework of Integrated Sustainable Urban Development (ISUD) and look more directly at the current and contemporary phase of urban policies promoted by the EU, trying to highlight whether and to what extent the mechanism and tools, as well as the vocabulary and meanings produced under the 2014–2020 EU cohesion framework, are innovating the field and also contributing to reshaping the debate on the role and nature of national urban policies

Unlocking the potential of biostimulants in sustainable agriculture: Effect of wood distillate on the nutritional profiling of apples

In this work, we report the investigation of the effect of exposure of apple trees to the bioeffector wood distillate (WD), a plant biostimulant used for improving the nutritional profiling of crop plants. We measured the effect by evaluating the biochemical and nutritional profile of both pulps and skin of fruits. WD (0.2 %, v/v) was applied once a week by foliar application, from May 2023 until September 2023. The results indicate that the WD-treated apples have a significant increase in several analyzed parameters (i.e., phenols, flavonoids, tannins, total antioxidant power, sugars, pectin, free amino acids, and mineral element content), especially in the pulp. These data were also confirmed by NMR and LC-ESI-MS techniques. This study pointed out that WD could be a handy tool for the cultivation of fruit trees

PCOS and inositols: controversial results and necessary clarifications. Basic differences between D-chiro and myo-inositol

Myo-Inositol (myo-Ins) and its phosphate derivatives—including inositol phosphates (InsPs), inositol pyrophosphates (IPPs) and phosphatidyl-inositol phosphate (PtdIns)—are credited to act as second messengers, which accumulate rapidly and transiently in response to external or endocrine signals, a phenomenon that allows signaling to be discrete and regulated (1, 2). Noticeably, inositol is involved in the transduction of several endocrine signals, including insulin (3, 4), thyroid hormones (5), gonadotropins (6), lipids with hormone-like activity (as prostaglandins) (7), and many other endocrine systems (8). Namely, in the last decade, a growing body of clinical and experimental research provided robust evidence about the efficiency of inositol in reversing a few clinical, metabolic, and endocrine features of the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). Myo-inositol, alone or in combination with its isomer D-Chiro-Inositol (D-Chiro-Ins), showed to exert a variable—albeit significant—effect in improving both symptoms and outcome in PCOS patients (9). Experimental and pilot clinical studies pointed out that a combination of both isomers could provide a reliable rationale for establishing a proper treatment strategy, as first suggested by Beemster’s seminal study (10, 11). However, the proper formula—i.e., the respective percentage of myo-Ins and D-Chiro-Ins—is still a matter of debate. In several cases, no conclusive insights can be obtained from clinical trials based on unclear rational design, limited number of recruited patients and variable formula composition and dosage(s). First, it is improper to compare clinical results from studies in which commercial nutraceutical formulas involve a wide range of concentrations (Table 1), with the myo-Ins/D-Chiro-Ins ratio varying implausibly from 0.4:1 to 104:1. Current commercial preparations also contain D-Chiro-Ins alone at concentrations reaching 600 mg that can be administered once or twice a day. Therefore, the daily dose of D-chiro-Ins, alone or with myo-Ins, ranges from low (less than 300 mg/die), medium (300–600 mg/die) and high (600–1,200 mg/die)

Cities in the EU recovery process : Localizing the Next Generation EU

publishedVersio